first I was wondering when the 650 became available in the twin ? I know the 2010 is a de-tuned 800.
Here is my delema. My girl is too short for most dual sports,truth be known its a case where she just isnt confident offroad witha tall machine, after all I ride a gsa@ 5'8", but thats me, she needs a lower bike. We just sold her v-strom and were planning a gs650 (low frame but not low seat), well my disappointment in bmw lately (read warped rotors in g-spot) I am reluctant to buy another BMW , and if I do I would like to buy used.She will rack up over 25000 miles in the next year , yes 95+% road but still she is a trooper and wants to off road with me-gotta love that ehh! So I want a twin for her not a single and just dont know what there is out there that gets the seat height down,reliablitly up, high way comfort up, ect....
WE will live one our bikes for over a year and I want her comfortable on the highway and on a single track in wherethehellarewe Mexico. Any advice ?
Is the 650 low the only thing out there ?
I did lower the v-strom but it was still toes only at stops.

A year ago I went through the same thing for with my wife. He had a v-strom and it was just too tall and top heavy even lowered. We looked real hard at the F650GS twin, but I will not spend that much on a toy. She test rode a Versys, SV, F658. I wanted to get her a twin since 90% of the time we are on pavement and figured she would like a multi jug bike.

Well then someone mentioned the F650 single. I know an ADVer that live close by that had one so we went to his place and she rode it around for an hour. She LOVED it. It fit very well she can flat foot it most of the time. It wasn't tippy like the strom or versys with the under seat tank. She never even mentioned vibration as a negative.

Fast forward a month and we found a nice used 06 with luggage for her for half the price of a new F658. After 6000 miles last summer she still loves it. The vibes only become an issue after about 500 miles in a day.

Don't write the 650 single off just cause it's a single (also available in lowered). It's one of the most road worthy singles ever made. poke around www.f650.com a little and see what people have to say about it.

And remember it's her bike so let her pick what works best for her. When we were looking I narrowed the field to 5 or so models then without biasing her toward anything she test rode them. I know it was tempting to try to pick something for her, but that's how we ended up with a v-strom that really wasn't the right bike for her.

First off (pet peeve) the F650 twin is not detuned. It's just tuned differently. There isn't an appreciable change in horsepower until the 7000 rpm mark, and how much time does a person spend between 7000 and 8000 rpms? Most of my shifts are done in the 5-6.5 range... any given day I might spend a total of about 3 seconds in the 7-8 range.

Why lower the frame (suspension) before using the low seat? The low seat is reported to be more comfortable than the stock seat and why rob suspension capability before taking away meaningless seat height first?

If you're shopping for used you're probably going to have some trouble since the bike has only been out a year and a half, so even if you do find a used one, it'd probably be just as smart to buy a brand new one for just a little bit more. And then of course the price to farkle.

I, like the other person, would guide you towards a 650 single, but have her ride both and decide which she likes best.

And regarding being mad at BMW, there isn't anything manufactured in the world that doesn't have a few flaws in various products.

How tall is Ms-xcflyn? Mrs levity is 5'6" and can flat-foot her F650GS2 (low-shock model + low seat, pic below). She loves the bike. It's smoother and stronger than her earlier F650GS singles (she previously had both std and low models). The narrower seat width on the F650GS-twin makes it easier to reach the ground, and she finds the low seat with its dished flat pocket comfortable. Also, the COG is considerably lower than the V-Strom.

She is 5'6" also. The F650gs did fit her very well on the dealer floor. The reason we were talking about the low frame but standard seat is because the standard seat is the same width (narrow) but a little better padded and much more comfortable for long days of tarmac. I think half the battle with height is really the width of a seat and frame. I was under the impression the low frame was lower on the top of the frame but had the same ground clearance.
In the real world as mentioned she is on the road 95 percent of the miles, I know we (me) like to believe we are 50/50 but really when I look at our travels I am sure we spend the vast majority on the road. She really just needs off road capability on her road bike not a dirt bike with head lights so real high ground clearance is not an absolute.
It is really disappointing that the field is so narrow to choose from on these bikes. Really surprised there is not a better selection-it makes the decision making a little lopsided. I even considered a road bike and doing some suspension,tire,fenders, ect... upgrades but it didnt seem reasonable and there are few road bikes the really fit the bill for her. Thank you for the advice and pics.
BTW cant remember who was excited about me calling it a de-tuned 800, but you know when thats how the dealers spell it for you that is how your going to say it.

I couldn't help noticing on a large group ride that the ladies seemed a lot happier on the 650 twin than most things including the 650 single. It just seemed to work really well for them, so I think you should at least have her ride one.

Female..5 ft 2 in ..lowered seat..lowered bike..flat feet//almost..8wks in S. America..on and off road..really great bike..highly recommend it for the vertically challenged ladies and men in the crowd..bj

She had been on the single for ten minutes, and when we pulled up at a set of lights (I was following on an F800) she said - "no way, this bike is not the one".

It really suprised me, she went for the F650GS twin, main reason she cited was the thumper feel from the engine compared to the smoothness of the twin. Probably important as we tend to do long days getting to the good stuff in Oz, and she felt that after an hour or two with a big single thumping away underneath it would detract from teh enjoyment of the ride.

I learnt that day that it really is a case of try before you buy, you have to look at all the options impartially and put egos and dreams in the back pocket before taking out the cheque book.

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Cheers, Mike
Don't just look at it - Ride the bloody thing!

The rest (frame, forks and internals, etc.) is the same (compare part #s).

The result is ~1-2" less ground clearance depending on shock preload and sag.
Ride geometry is of course changed some due to the lower rear end.
You can raise the forks to compensate and quicken the steering (this also lowers the bike a bit more).